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Post by Chloe Fetter on Jan 19, 2018 4:17:15 GMT
The split amongst North and South Korea continues to be one of the most strained borders in the whole world. I believe that due to the recent actions and statements given by North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, that attending the Olympics could bare devasting consequences. It makes no sense that the countries can set aside their issues for the sake of some playful sports broadcast. The whole world is watching and North Korea nows that. If there were a perfect time to make a move that will instill fear of North Korean power, the time is now. Although, there are some more positive outlooks on the situation. Perhaps the countries could truly set aside their differences and just play. This could be a moment that harbors more unity or it could be fatal. Honestly, it is a 50/50 chance with the safety of this decision. My question is, how do the North Koreans that attend the Olympics as athletes not notice the other countries and the fact that they are not the only ones??
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Post by Admin on Jan 19, 2018 12:23:54 GMT
Some of you have made reference to the idea of motivation and justification. How can we connect certain country's' action (i.e. North Korea) to the conversation of motivation versus justification?
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Post by Laura Gutauskas on Jan 19, 2018 13:57:55 GMT
@matthartz
Thank you for posing your own discussion questions!
As I had mentioned previously, N. Korea may bribe S. Korea into giving them oil or food for a fake protection against war/using nuclear weapons. This is just speculation, but it could be possible when considering the tactics they’ve used in the past. Even a small attack by N. Korea could change the Olympic games forever through security protocol alone. Regarding people’s fear, I think the countries with less power would be more fearful while those with more power would just be angrier. It may not push them towards Trump’s agenda, although it could make them against N. Korea as a whole.
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Post by Makayla Rieder on Jan 19, 2018 21:15:37 GMT
@barbie i agree that another family reunion is unlikely to happen because of the tension and not much will change between the two countries. This happy time is most likely temporary. North Korea is only looking out for themselves and i’m sure there is an ulterior motive to be nice.
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Post by Meghan Miller on Jan 19, 2018 21:27:39 GMT
@olivia I agree that the situation with Kim Jung-Un's change of heart is a little bit fishy. It seems like there was a sudden shift between complete isolation and open discussions about joining an international contest. We may have a skewed view of North Korea and believe everything they do has to have ulterior motives but we have not known North Korea to not be diligent in war games.
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Post by Meghan Miller on Jan 19, 2018 22:19:06 GMT
@ Matt You posed really good questions! I believe North Korea would use joining the games as a way to gather Intel on other countries, and if they happen to attack then they will affect as many countries as possible and be seen as a world competitor and wield fear in future relations with other countries.
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Post by Maya French on Jan 20, 2018 18:03:43 GMT
@laura, I fully agree with your thoughts on the US influencing the barrier between North and South Korea. The tensions have been there so long and despite wanting to be a united country, South Korea has confided in the US since the end of WWII and spent generations living in fear of their communism fueled evil twin. It has become their nature to flinch at the slightest movement in the North, with fair reason. Now that North Korea is reaching out to seemingly begin to make amends, South Korea seems to have come to an unspoken "fork in the road". They can chose to go in with extreme caution towards North Korea's offers and likely ruin any trust of North Korea by continuing to be backed so strongly by a large US militant force. The other path would mean refusing US protection, leaving the safety they have long confided in, and practically trust fall into the arms of a life long bully in the name of growth and unity. If the US hadn't have taken such a strong, outward opinion against North Korea, they most likely would not be causing such a barrier and could be a more silent support in the background. Though it is hard to say, everyday more and more troops are being deployed to South Korea and surrounding areas in Japan. We'll just have to see what the future holds, either way we're in for some monumental history.
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Post by Maya French on Jan 20, 2018 18:27:51 GMT
@olivia, your post started out talking very positively about the family reunion aspect of the agreements made. I believe that the family reunions may be a bit outdated at this point in time. In the past, closer to the end of WWII, they were about reuniting families torn apart by the border, families who had known each other in person and most likely spent a fair amount of time together. I have a feeling that in trying to reenact the family reunions of the past, they will be lackluster when compared to how they used to be. Most of the family members who had known each other will have long past and the younger generations are very unlikely to know each other, not to mention the culture difference. If the borders between the two countries were as tight as the articles say, then it is unlikely the separated families know their other halves by anything more than some hand-me-down stories and a possible picture or two. The reunions would be no more than the bringing together of strangers who have nothing in common but the same general DNA.
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Post by Olivia Girdwood on Jan 21, 2018 18:06:28 GMT
@jonahfoster
I really like your comments about North Korea being a Big brother to South Korea and I believe it brings a good way for people to potentially understand North Korea's motivations for their attacks as well as their "fishy" plans for the Olympics.
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Post by Olivia Girdwood on Jan 21, 2018 18:10:03 GMT
@chloe
From my knowledge Kim has kept his entire country in the dark and only told them what Kim wanted them to know. He has control over any info they receive. I believe that the athletes are either a. complete in on Kim's plans or b. They are being threatened to keep their mouths shut or for some other reason. I honestly do not believe there is any good in this situation at all.
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Post by Jonah on Jan 21, 2018 20:47:29 GMT
@ang the justification between whether it is motivation and justification is the when the say it. In my INTERPRETATION motivation is the prerequisite decision and the real reason why they chose to join the olympics. A decision we will never know. Justification is what they tell us. Justification CAN be the same as motivation but if they don't wanna tell us their true motivation they can over it up with a different justification.
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Post by Laura Gutauskas on Jan 21, 2018 23:42:18 GMT
mayafrench I like how you call N. Korea the “evil twin” of S. Korea; it’s very fitting considering the situation that N. Korea has put S. Korea into. They can’t back out now because N. Korea basically has them in a silent chokehold and S. Korea has nowhere to go anyway even if they try holding the U.S.’s hand. What’s interesting is that Trump says he supports this step toward diplomacy despite the obvious feelings he has for N. Korea and it has really just become a big love-hate triangle.
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Post by Wyatt Heyl on Jan 22, 2018 0:00:47 GMT
@matt_Hartz To answer your first discussion question if North Korea would use this opportunity any differently. Well it is a possibility that they might try and make peace with America. Especially with Trump making threats toward them. Plus they may use this opportunity to make peace with the rest of the world. With them doing that they might come out of isolation. However with them coming out of isolation this could lead to the citizens becoming unhappy.
To answer your second question about North Korea making an attack at a world event, it would make North Korea feared. Due to North Korea showing the world that they do mean business and that they are now a world power to be feared. Its hard to say whether or not other countries would jump on the Trump bandwagon, because of how trump is going on about it making threats with nuclear weapons.
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Post by Barbie Cessar on Jan 22, 2018 0:08:10 GMT
@mastrean
A justification is different from true motivation. North Korea can justify that they want to be apart of the Winter Olympics to reduce tensions but I believe actions speak louder than words. If peace was their true motivation then they would stop testing nuclear weapons. North Korea can justify how they want but their true intentions can be proven through their history and actions.
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Post by Wyatt Heyl on Jan 22, 2018 0:33:45 GMT
@chole_Fetter It is true that there is only a 50/50 chance in which North Korea could wither spread unity or throw the world into more chaos. With all of the previous disasters that North Korea has caused toward South Korea, it leads the other countries to expect the worse. The world only hopes that the North Korea can make the right decision. But if North Korea makes the wrong decision and does a public attack, it could lead the world into a state of chaos and fear. What a response to an action like this could be is at the moment is unclear however. But one thing that you said about how countries can set aside their differences making no sense, has happened before, with the 1936 Olympics that took place in Berlin Nazi, Germany. All countries that participated set aside their issues with Germany and their invasion of Austria that same year.
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